Assessing Indigenous Knowledge for Diagnosis and Treatment of Horse Diseases and Developing a Knowledge-Based System: Evidence from East Wallaga and Horo Guduru Wallaga Zones, Ethiopia

Assessing Indigenous Knowledge for Diagnosis and Treatment of Horse Diseases and Developing a Knowledge-Based System: Evidence from East Wallaga and Horo Guduru Wallaga Zones, Ethiopia | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Case Report Assessing Indigenous Knowledge for Diagnosis and Treatment of Horse Diseases and Developing a Knowledge-Based System: Evidence from East Wallaga and Horo Guduru Wallaga Zones, Ethiopia Misgana Merga¹, Diriba Girma², Morka Amente³, Mebrate Dufera⁴ This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7365536/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In Ethiopia, indigenous knowledge remains a vital pillar of equine healthcare, especially in rural areas where access to modern veterinary services is limited. This study documents, validates, and digitizes traditional diagnostic and treatment practices for horse diseases, culminating in the development of a knowledge-based system (KBS). A total of 86 informants, including traditional healers, horse owners, and veterinary officers, participated in semi-structured interviews, field observations, and document reviews. The collected knowledge was verified by veterinary experts and encoded into hierarchical models and production rules, implemented in a SWI-Prolog environment. The resulting system achieved an accuracy of 83%, sensitivity of 81%, and specificity of 85%, with an 83.4% acceptance rate among users. By formalizing indigenous veterinary practices into a digital expert system, this work demonstrates the potential of integrating traditional knowledge into modern animal healthcare to improve service delivery in underserved regions of Ethiopia. Indigenous Knowledge Equine Health Expert System Veterinary Informatics Knowledge-Based System Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7365536","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Case Report","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":505985414,"identity":"7ee3f654-ebef-4704-a365-ce158fe69873","order_by":0,"name":"Misgana Merga¹","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA30lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPACCSBmPgBiyJCihS0BxOAhxSYeAzBJUJ1u+9nHL37mWNjLR+R8fnWjxoKHgf3w0Q34tJidSTez7N0mkbjxRu4265xjQIfxpKXdwKvlQBqbAe82iQTDGbnbjHPYgFokeMzwazn/jM3w7zYJe8MZOc+Mc/4Ro+VGGvNjoC2M8yVymB/nthGl5RkbsyzQLxt4npkx5/ZJ8LAR9Mv5NOaPb7fV2cu3Jz/+nPOtTo6f/fAxvFqAgA0UjwwGB6AMNgLKQYD5A4iUb4AyRsEoGAWjYBSgAwCwQ0Zz3d2AXwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Wollega University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Misgana","middleName":"","lastName":"Merga¹","suffix":""},{"id":505985415,"identity":"06e54129-e688-47b5-940a-95c695eaf3a2","order_by":1,"name":"Diriba Girma²","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wollega University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Diriba","middleName":"","lastName":"Girma²","suffix":""},{"id":505985416,"identity":"4a1f330c-c859-44b0-b7c8-983b9f97ed97","order_by":2,"name":"Morka Amente³","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wollega University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Morka","middleName":"","lastName":"Amente³","suffix":""},{"id":505985417,"identity":"922cf16c-1994-462d-8cb0-bbcb38de63dd","order_by":3,"name":"Mebrate Dufera⁴","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wollega University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mebrate","middleName":"","lastName":"Dufera⁴","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-13 13:38:20","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7365536/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7365536/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":90061906,"identity":"cfbbd1cd-f2df-4edc-8c60-ff35fa083ed8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-28 03:40:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":402188,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Dr.Mebrate.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7365536/v1_covered_a10f21ef-79ff-4b54-a111-ddedbd0424bf.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Assessing Indigenous Knowledge for Diagnosis and Treatment of Horse Diseases and Developing a Knowledge-Based System: Evidence from East Wallaga and Horo Guduru Wallaga Zones, Ethiopia","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Indigenous Knowledge, Equine Health, Expert System, Veterinary Informatics, Knowledge-Based System","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7365536/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7365536/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"In Ethiopia, indigenous knowledge remains a vital pillar of equine healthcare, especially in rural areas where access to modern veterinary services is limited. 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